Powers and Exponents

Updated February 21, 2017 | Factmonster Staff

A power is the product of multiplying a number by itself.


Usually, a power is represented with a base number and an exponent. The base number tells what number is being multiplied. The exponent, a small number written above and to the right of the base number, tells how many times the base number is being multiplied.

For example, “6 to the 5th power” may be written as “65.” Here, the base number is 6 and the exponent is 5. This means that 6 is being multiplied by itself 5 times: 6 x 6 x 6 x 6 x 6

6 x 6 x 6 x 6 x 6 = 7,776 or 65 = 7,776

base number2nd power3rd power4th power5th power
11111
2481632
392781243
416642561,024
5251256253,125
6362161,2967,776
7493432,40116,807
8645124,09632,768
9817296,56159,049
101001,00010,000100,000
111211,33114,641161,051
121441,72820,736248,832
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